hadriel | eighth. voice (breathe underwater, i'm coming up for air).

[It's been a while since Mello's addressed the network with anything but cold, impersonal text (well, except for that one time he was possessed by a demon, but let's not dwell on that, he wasn't exactly himself), and the fact that he is now choosing this method of communication is significant - Mello does nothing without purpose. He's been here an entire year, and he has begun to slowly pull himself out of the mindset of a man with one day left to live and not much to lose. Near was right; he is better at dealing with people than he has been, and it's well past time he took steps to rectify that. He's stuck here, perhaps indefinitely, and he has, in spite of his various missteps over the past year, become a part of this community.

So when he speaks now, his tone is a measure less haughty and condescending than you might be used to seeing from him. This is, believe it or not, what an attempt at teamwork looks like.]

I've revised the introductory guide, and I've included a new attachment with a summarized history of the events that have transpired here. Please take time to review it. If anything of importance is missing, I'd like to know.

[Look at that, Hadriel. He even said please.]

I think we need better documentation of what happens to us here - not just so that we aren't forced to keep explaining things to the newcomers ad nauseam, but because our history informs who we are, collectively. And I can't help thinking that if the gods here or their so-called previous host population had left better records of what happened before, we might have been better prepared for what happened when we were attacked not long ago by the things that killed them off. Now, I'm good at collecting information, but I'm only one person, and as we've seen, the Door is unpredictable about who comes and goes. If only one person is collecting this sort of information and that person disappears, we all lose that record.

[He falls silent for a moment, thinking of Near's recent disappearance. As much as he dislikes to admit it, even to himself, it's something that has left a deep impact - deep enough, perhaps, to prompt this shift in his attitude.]

I guess ... I'm asking for your help. All of you.

[Don't make this weird, Hadriel. It takes a lot for Mello to ask for help with anything.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thank you. Any information you can add would be appreciated.

[Ouch, though; the ache of loss is something with which Mello is intimately acquainted. Near's been gone a month, and it still weighs heavily on Mello's mind.]

I'm ... sorry your friends are gone. [That's right, isn't it? This is what people do when they're allowed to grow up human - they express sympathy in situations like this.] Someone [who is important to me] I knew from before disappeared not long ago. I keep thinking there must be a pattern to how the door operates, but so far, I haven't been able to find it.

Of course. ... I'm not so good with these devices, but I'd be happy to share the physical copies with you if you're available.

[ Once she gathers them all up again... ]

Thank you. [ It isn't "all right," so she doesn't say so. ] I've found no pattern, either. Some are here for months, others for less than a single one - I don't understand. [ Cecily smiles thinly - very thinly. ] And I've been here for... Maker. Over a year and a half.

Sure, I can meet you whenever you'd like.

[He's not used to being thanked, either - something else that mostly fell by the wayside as a result of his unorthodox upbringing. Something else that still feels strange to encounter.]

The most I've been able to get out of Sorrow so far is that the Door draws on chaos and disorder because that produces the most heightened emotional responses. I guess it would make sense that it would swing both ways with this same result.

[Ripping away the people with whom those who are left behind have grown close seems like the very definition of chaos to Mello. It's ironic that for as much loss as he has experienced in his life, he still doesn't find it any easier to live through.]

A year and a half ... were you among the first group that was brought here, then?

Tomorrow, then. I need to get all of this together.

[ She isn't the most organized person in the world... ]

I suppose taking from our number unexpectedly can be considered chaos and disorder. [ Cecily mumbles darkly. ] And it certainly causes varying emotions...

[ Sorrow, rage, confusion, fear. The negative ones... ]

I was. In the first batch, if I remember it rightly.

[ As if she could forget. Somehow, though, things seemed simpler back then... and she'd had more of her companions at her side. ]

Whenever it's convenient for you.

[Sooner is better, but he can afford to be patient if it means more thorough information.]

Then it stands to reason that you have valuable insights to offer about the gods and what's happened here. There aren't many of you still here from that initial batch.

How many others are there, do you know?

[ She doesn't. If she's close with any of the others from her 'group,' then she's forgotten that they arrived at the same time. ]

How long have you spent in these caves?

Just one other that I know of for sure. [That would be Sharon.] I've been here for a year. And I've observed quite a lot, but I haven't documented anything like a formal census.

Ah. [ Just Sharon, then. ] Well, we may benefit from something like that, if we can find the time. I'd be willing to help in however I can.

I would certainly appreciate it.

[He doesn't personally relish the idea of providing the sort of identifying information that a census would collect, but the data would certainly be useful as a whole.]

I think time is something we have plenty of here - it's effort and willingness to cooperate that we as a collective lack.

You would think we would be more willing to work together, considering.

[ You know, the whole... situation. ]

I hope others will follow suit.

Unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised by it.

[He has, you know, met people before.]

Not surprised, just disappointed.

[ She says, in a sort of mocking voice, perhaps reminiscent of a parent from ages of childhood past.

There's a pause. ]

I'll leave you to it, but - We'll speak soon?

Of course. You know how to reach me.

eighth. voice (breathe underwater, i'm coming up for air).

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